Tag k- hammer



L. HI HooVHH. TACK HAMMHH.

(No Model.)

No. 392,515. Patented Nov. 6, 11H88.

wien.

toms n. Hoover., or sr. Louis, Missooni.

TACKHANlIViER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392.515, dated November 6. 1888,

Application filed February 4, 1888. Serial No. 263,037. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, LoUis H. HOOVER, of St. Louis, Missouri, have made a new and useful Improvement in TacleHammcrs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. V

The improvement relates to that class of tack-hammers in which the tack can be held in the hammer-head in entering the tack into the surface into which it is being nailed, and it consists in the special means for holding the tack, substantially as is hereinafter described and claimed, and as illustrated in the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure l is a view in perspective of the improved tack-hammer; Fig. 2, an end elevation ofthe hammer; Fig. 8, a plan of that face of the hammerhcad in which the tack is held; Fig. 4, asection on thelinc 44 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5, an elevation of the ham mer-head looking at the opposite side to that presented in Fig. 2; and Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 6 (S of Fig. 5. In Figs. 2 and 4 a tack is shown attached to the hammer as in use.

rihe samelettcrs ofrefcrence denote the same parts.

Saving as it may be modified by the cmbodi ment therein ofthe presentimprovement, the hammer A is of any of the customary forms. In the hammer-head a, just within and parallel substantial] y with the face a' of the hammer-head, is a recess, D. It extends well across the hammer-head, and at b it is open to receive the tack J, and also to admit of the insertion oftl1c"sp`ring D, which, in conjunction with the recessed hammer-head, constitutes the means for holding` the tack. The face a is slit at a", the slit being extended in the di rection of the recess B, and being open at a to admit the tack. The spring is composed of a piece of wire bent into the shape shown substantially in Fig. l.L -that is, the wireis folded at its middle d, and at that point it is held in an offset or niche, b', at the inner end of the recess D, and from that point the two parte d d' ofthe spring extend toward the open end b of the recess, and as they approach the end b the parts d d openfrom each other to enable the tack to readily enter between them, and

after thus Opening apart the parts d d are folded and returned into the recess to enable the ends d2 d2 ofthe wire to press against the sides Z b, respectively, of the recess B, and thereby both hold the spring better in place and provide for better holding the tack' in the hammer. The spring D, as indicated in Fig. (i, is also preferably so made as to incline its outer portion toward the face a' of the hammer-head.

The mode of holdinge the tack in the ham mer is obvious, by reference to Figs. 2 and 4.. The insertion of the tack is facilitated by the groove a* which leads to the recess. The tackhead enters the groove and slides therein until it encounters the outer end of the spring D, when it is moved inward into the spring and recess, as shown. After the point of the tack has been inserted in the surface into which it is to be nailed, the hammer is slipped from off the tack and the driving of the tack is eom pleted in the usual manner. It will be observed that the spring D does not extend outward beyond the face a, and that the hammerhead is free of all projections. It will also be noticed that the spring D is adapted to tacks of various sizes, and it is in this respect that the present construction is an improvement upon that patented to ine .'I'une 21., 1887, numbered 865,255, and

XVhat I claim ism The combination of the hammer-head and the spring, said head being recessed. and having its face slit, as described, and said spring being doubled and held at its middle, at the inner end of the recess, and having its parts folded to enable the spring to hold tacks of different sizes, substantially as described.

LOUIS II. HOOVER.- Titnessesz C. D. MOODY, C. C. LOGAN. 

